Notes of What I've seen: Three Monkeys (Üç maymun)

It started with a man,Servet, ran over and killed someone with his car, and all he did to protect his political career was asked his chauffeur, Eyüp, to replace him going to prison. While Eyüp is in prison, his paycheck will be paid in cash and he’ll get big amount of money after he’s out of prison. Eyüp’s son, İsmail, who didn’t manage to get into college asked to buy a car and his mother ,Hacer, asked Servet to give her an advance on money to buy the car, and somehow they finally got into affair. İsmail knew about the affair but didn’t say anything to his dad when he visit.

After Eyüp got out of prison, he went to the office to see Servet for the big amount of money that Servet promised him, Eyüp told him to subtract the amount that İsmail took to buy the car, but Servet said that he won’t subtract the amount. Eyüp also suspicious to his wife who had a call from a male (Servet…you know where this is going..he2). Servet wanted to break up his affair with Hacer. And when Servet was killed , police called Eyüp and Hacer for interrogation and there’s where Eyüp found out about Hacer’s affair. Finally Eyüp knew that İsmail is the one who killed Servet, and he did the same thing : find a replacement for his son.

I had a headache after watch this movie, it’s like an old telenovela where they kill each other and protect each other…The difference is it is Turkish movie…he2.
They all play like 3 monkeys – play deaf, blind, numb – knowing things but pretend not knowing them to protect each other, to keep their family from tearing apart.

This is not a bad movie, the set was beautiful…and there’s one scene I remember well: when Servet wanted to break up with Hacer , (the scene was really beautiful) they met beside a lake, first it was just windy, and then along with the arguments and fights they had, the weather was slowly worsen, with thunder and all.. The weather supported the scene very well.

-2010.01.01-

Notes of What I've seen: Mary And Max

Screened with two color tone: one is black&white , and the other one is colorful-but more brown colors involved-. The one with color belongs to the story about Mary Daisy Dinkle, a young girl in Australia, who has no friend, neglected by her parents, have many ideas in her mind, and curious about things. Her curiousity about "where do children come from" gave her an idea to write a letter to someone from another continent to ask about this specific question. She picked Max Jerry Horowitz in New York from a phone book she read in post office to be her pen pal.

Both have no friend (though Max has an imaginary friend, but he always wanted a real friend as one of his 3 goals in life, beside having enough chocolate for whole life and collection of Noblets figurines), love Noblets cartoon, like eating chocolate, bullied and alienated by other people around them. They become good friends as he likes to answer Mary’s questions in her letters such as 'if a taxi goes backwards, does the driver owe you money'..:) And Max also shared about his obesity and mental illness problem, his jobs, and other things about his life.

Because of this friendship, Mary changed herself, succeed in university learning about mental illness, wishing someday she’ll be able to cure her friend Max. She even published a book about the illness using Max as her study case which makes Max furious, sent a full of hate letter that made Mary devastated.

This is not a fun, kiddy cartoon.. It even had a narrator in some parts of the movie, beside the letter writing and reading in most part of it. I like this movie although it is too dark for me. I like how little Mary suggests things and asking things to Max in a very simple way (even put them in drawings). Max even laminated her letters..so cute… Max even tell little Mary about essential, logical things like ‘why people cut trees down while we still need oxygen’ , or how to survive being bullied by making up lies and at the same time he told her that lying is not good, and tell her that he’s an atheist (a very heavy material for a kid like Mary)…

Have I told you about the color difference between Mary’s and Max’s frame? One time Max imagined that their path would somehow cross and they can meet each other, it is still pictures half B/W –Max’s side- and half colorful –Mary’s side- with a very blurry blend in the middle. And when they finally meet in the end of the movie (it was supposed to be a secret, he2) , colorful Mary went to Max’s B/W world…I wonder why they make the color like that..???

A story about friendship (ups and downs of it), life (most of it are awful side of life), and loving yourself…

Likes it…my first movie in 2010…^^

-2010.01.01-

Notes of What I've seen: Departures (おくりびと, Okuribito)

Seen this movie on Jiffest 2009. It was the only japanese film , and from my experience Japanese films are really good, very different from other films and this one is reaaaaaaaally good.

This film started showing a dead body 'preparation' and they can not decide whether the dead person is a man or woman..hahaha...and then it flew back to a scene where an orchestra is performing, and because of the ticket-selling is bad, the orchestra was dismissed. A young cello player - who have pursued this career for a long time, and very optimistic about the future of this orchestra, even offered to have his wife designed a website for them - have to let his dream go, sell a 'professional' cello that he just bought, and ask her wife to go back to his hometown.

He looked for a job and went to a interview to a company which he thought was a travel agency. He finally figured out that the company give 'dead person preparation' service . He was immediately hired and was offered big salary, he even went home from the interview with an advance salary.

He hated the job at first but he slowly takes the job very seriously and even loves the job. He risked his marriage, lost a friend because of this job. But because of his strong heart, his passion for his job,he finally gets it all back and even get closure with his dad that had left him and his mom since he was a child.

This movie move not in linear way, it can move to the past or to the later story without you knowing it...It shows someone's integrity to one's job though everyone was against it. It shows a lot of 'dead preparation' service, each family has their own way to say goodbye to their died family member.

This film is perhaps the best I had in jiffest 2009, I laughed a lot, cried as much through this film. Loves it!!
Please watch this film..I beg you..hahaha...

-2010.01.01-

Notes of What I've seen: (500) Days Of Summer

"You should know upfront , This is not a Love story"

It is indeed not a love story...it is about finding n losing love I think.

It moves back and forth through 500 days of Summer. Summer here is not the season, it's the name of the main character in this movie. And the movie tells us about how Tom - a regular male working as greeting card writer - met Summer and had 500 days Summer-ed. Those 500 days were ups and downs for Tom , we can see Summer brings out the best and worst in him.

Can not tell much about this movie, you should really watch it yourself. The story is common (I think). But how the story is put together in this movie is really refreshing, the characters are so alive, all the jokes & conversations between them, and Summer's unpredictable acts made me think "Hey, I wanna date her!" hahahaha...

There is one more thing that I love in this movie, when they move from one day to another, the frame shows the day-number and the background shows the mood.. Like when their relationship was in bad term , the background was dark, gloomy ..and when it was all good, the background was big orange sunshine.

Ooooops, almost forgot to tell you..its soundtrack album was soooooo good too..my fave: Us - Regina Spektor..*I'm her big fan, he2^^*

-2010.01.01-

Notes of What I've seen: Julie & Julia

Two stories about two women at their own time are told side-by-side.
One.
Julia Child (Meryl Streep),an American, moved to Paris following his husband who was assigned there. Being a housewife, she was looking for things to do, trying out hat making lesson, bridge lesson, and somehow led her to cooking lesson. Having a very supportive husband and being a very competitive person , she managed to be the best in her class, even get to teach person and after so many struggles she had her book published.

Two.
Julie Powell (Amy Adams) moved to Queens from Brooklyn, hated it there, needed to find something new to fill her days beside being a government employee (I think her job is soooooo depressing, listening to people's complain), a housewife. She started a blog with the challange is to finish all recipes from recipe book co-authored by Julia Child in one year.

Julie compared to Julia is less competitive, less happy, but she find the way out of it from Julia Child's recipes, life experience. But if we look at their life in linear way, we can see so much similarity, though they're from different era, they both needed something to do - obsession - target - hobby , and finally led them both to cooking...

I love Meryl Streep!! Her character is so funny, lovable...All through the movie, I don't care about Julia Powell's story (though I think this movie is supposed to be about her blog project)...I only want more of Julia Child!!! hahaha....

I like this kind of story, life story...life-changing story...It's a good movie to start a new year...makes me think of my resolutions...;p

-2009.12.31-

Urus Passport Sendiri...^^

Okeh, diawali dari :

"Hah? Lo mau jalan-jalan ma Twee tapi Twee nya gak punya passport?!"

Gua langsung berniat bikin passport, tapi trigger paling sintingnya seh entah kenapa anak-anak kantor banyak banget yang tiba-tiba bikin passport, co gw jg bikin passport (dibayarin kantornya..hix..)

Hasil info sana sini, gw udah berniat cuti 1 hari buat bikin passport di Kantor Imigrasi Jl. Angkasa (Kemayoran) , temen kantor ada yang punya nomor telepon "orang dalam" yang bisa "bantu" 1 hari beres (hari ini masukin form, foto n sidik jari - besoknya jadi) cuma 500ribu. Murah, kalau dibandingin co gw yang 750rb di Kuningan (pake calo juga).

Trus gw baca-baca blog juga...browsing-browsing...ada yang bilang "bikin sendiri aja","gampang koq","biayanya separuh dari pake calo". Dan teman kantor (cuma SATU orang) ada yang bilang "gampang koq, cepet, lo bikin aja di Beos"

Senin, 12 Oktober 2009
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Gw yang sangat terkenal pelit, dengan semangat menuju Kantor Imigrasi Beos dengan berpegang pada perkataan teman kantor gw.

Modal uang 5ribu Rupiah + mulut, naiklah gw angkot M12 (Senen-Kota) dari depan Gramedia Gajah Mada, dengan pede bilang"Pak, kalau sampai kantor Imigrasi, kasih tau saya ya!"

Diturunin di depan kantor imigrasinya : cuma biaya 3ribu Rupiah...



Sampai ke situ langsung baru buka mulut mau tanya ke tukang parkir, langsung tangannya suruh gw jalan masuk ke dalam...he2

Sampai di dalam, tanya lagi sama bapak-bapak , gw disuruh beli map dulu di depan tempat fotocopy , terus ke dalam minta form.Gw beli map (standar-karton-kuning) + materai + surat pernyataan (template gt - menyatakan gak bikin paspor buat cari kerja) + cover buku paspor : total Rp 12.000,-

Masuk ke dalam kantor imigrasinya langsung menuju ke loket 4 minta form (ada cap GRATIS d header formnya), pas minta form ditanyain "udah punya map belum?". Kalau gak bisa menunjukkan map itu, ditambahkanlah "beli dulu di depan tempat fotocopy baru balik lagi kesini".

Langsung deh antri buat isi form (ada contoh yang ditempel di jendela - cara mengisi). harus pakai tinta hitam-huruf capital.




Selesai isi, disuruh ke Loket 1 (di mejanya tertulis : laporan Pengaduan), diceklah kelengkapan surat2, gw kurang beberapa hal:
1. cek KTP
2. materai belum ditempel ke surat pernyataan (yang tadi beli bareng map)

Jadi keluar lagi , ke tempat cek KTP. Dia minta fotocopy KTP & fotocopy KK. Kayaknya petugasnya cek apakah KTPnya asli dengan input gitu cek di terminal komputernya dia. Dan pas selesai dia minta Rp. 5000,-



Hasilnya cuma dapat ini :


Trus tempel materainya, minta lem ma tukang fotocopy.


Lanjut setelah lengkap, antri lagi ke loket 1,


dicek kelengkapannya:
1. fotocopy KK
2. fotocopy ijazah
3. fotocopy surat lahir
4. fotocopy surat WNI
5. surat rekomendasi dari tempat kerja (asli)
6. surat pernyataan yang sudah diberi materai 6000 + tanda tangan
7. form hasil cek KTP
8. formulir dari kantor imigrasi yang sudah diisi

Setelah semuanya cocok, petugas kasih nomor antrian dan disuruh tunggu. Gw nunggu sekitar 1 jam. Sambil pegangin map kuning berisi berkas yang sudah lengkap. Ada tempat duduk sih, cuma tempat duduknya terbatas.

Ternyata dipanggil oleh petugas Loket 4 lagi.
dicek semuanya, dan dikasih surat panggilan buat wawancara, kayak gini:


Overall hari itu cuma makan waktu 2 jam ^^. Ini neh foto loketnya:

Paling kiri (yang ada ibu2 berdiri) itu loket 4 : tempat ambil form n masukin berkas. Loket 1 ada di sebelah kanan foto (gak kefoto). Ini gw foto dari tempat nunggu nomor antrian dipanggil.

Kamis, 15 Oktober 2009
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Dengan semangat gw datang kesitu. Dapat info gak usah bawa duit karena pas ambil passport baru bayar. Jadwal gw jam 11.00, so, gw sampai situ jam 10.30 lah...Rame banget, lebih ramai dar hari Senin pas gw masukin form. Sampai situ langsung tanya ma bapak-bapak berseragam yang pertama terlihat : "Pak, saya dapat panggilan hari ini musti kemana ya?" Dy bilang: "Kamu ke loket 1, lapor dulu. Nanti dipanggil".
Langsunglah gw menuju ke loket 1, langsung menyodorkan surat panggilan gw, dan petugas yang sama ma hari Senin cuma ambil itu surat panggilan, ditumpuk di dekat dia sambil bilang "Duduk aja, nanti tunggu dipanggil".
Gw berdiri sekitar 10menit baru dapat tempat duduk. Dan baru 10 menit gw duduk, listrik padam. Katanya pemadaman bergilir. Sekitar gw udah pada heboh bilang bahwa pemadaman bergilir tuh bisa 5 jam, ngapain tunggu, dst.

Makin lama makin sepi dan aktivitas yang masih berjalan cuma Loket 1 panggilin orang-orang yang sudah dapat nomor antrian buat masukin berkas.

Jam 11.30 sudah benar-benar sepi dan akhirnya gw ke loket dan tanya ma petugas loket 1. Katanya untuk ambil nomor antrian ditutup jam 12, dan proses wawancara ,foto, sidik jari itu tutup jam 3. Kalau sampai jam tersebut lampu gak nyala, maka mereka gak bisa proses (gw bingung kenapa mereka gak punya genset).

Dia kasih pilihan untuk ambil kembali surat panggilan gw dan kembali lagi besoknya di jam yang sama. Tambahan , untuk yang masukin berkas, paling lambat jam setengah 12 kalau Jumat (karena ada sholat Jumat).

Akhirnya gw ambil balik surat panggilan gw ^^ n balik ke kantor..he2

Jumat, 16 Oktober 2009
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Yeiiy!! Datang lagi untuk ketiga-kalinya dalam satu minggu ke kantor imigrasi!!
Ulang proses yang sama: masukin surat panggilan ke loket 1, nunggu panggilan. Kurang lebih jam 11.00 (sesuai dengan surat panggilan), nama gw kepanggil n dikasih berkas yang waktu itu gw masukin. Berkas itu dibawa ke kasir, tunggu selesai proses lain (entah apa) dan dibuatin kwitansi. Ternyata qt harus bayar, untung ada ATM terdekat....



Lumayan lama seh, sekitar 20menit kayaknya nunggu nama qt dipanggil lagi (sudah gak pake nomor antrian, jadi nongkrong aja gitu d depan loket), akhirnya ditanya sama bapak yang di balik kaca loket "Nama kamu siapa?" . Langsung dikasih kwitansinya, bayar 270.000,- (biaya resmi pembuatan paspor) + 1.000,- (sumbangan PMI).



Begitu dapat kwitansi langsung menuju ke tempat foto & sidik jadi (di seberang loketnya) , gak pake nomor antrian , jadi ya antrinya atas kesadaran masing-masing mengerumuni meja foto &sidik jarinya. Ada 4 meja buat foto, tapi saat itu cuma ada 2 petugas yang jaga.



Cuma foto (kayaknya 1x kesempatan) , trus ambil sidik jari (ternyata sidik jarinya udah scan, gak pake belepotan tinta..^^).

Selesai foto, ke ruangan sebelah untuk tunggu dipanggil interview.

Pengalaman gw interview cuma ditanya 2 hal: 1. mau kemana? 2. Nama kamu weyanti? Koq bukan Wiyanti?



Hahaha....kacau tuh orang. Trus berkas asli dicek sekilas gitu dan petugasnya langsung ngecap2 berkas gw yang fotocopy-an. Langsung disuruh ke loket pengambilan paspor untuk tanya kapan paspor bisa diambil.



Sampai loket, cuma diminta kwitansinya dan dtulisin tanggal ambil di pinggir kwitansi. That's it. Kurang lebih jam 12.00 sudah selesai semuanya...(sangat cepat!!)

Selasa, 27 Oktober 2009
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Datang cuma bawa kwitansi , samperin loketnya , sedikit antri dan langsung kasih kwitansi ke petugas untuk dicariin passport-nya. Setelah dy ketemu passportnya, langsung tanda tangan bahwa qt sudah ambil. Done! Kayaknya cuma 15menit gw disitu...



Btw, gw udah punya passport lho...hahaha... *sombong* :)

Info tambahan, ini gw foto dari yang tertempel & tergantung di kantor imigrasi:

HIMBAUAN JANGAN PAKAI CALO...^^


BIAYA PEMBUATAN PASPOR


PERSYARATAN PERMOHONAN PASPOR


Good luck n semoga pengalaman gw ini bisa membantu..^^


Twee
-2009.10.27-

Notes of What I've seen: The Hangover

I saw this movie last week...





Temen gw sampe gini : "You'll thank me later" ...segitunya ya...





Nah, filmnya dimulai dengan Phil (Bradley Cooper) yg super kotor n luka2 telepon ke Tracy(Sasha Barrese) u/ kasih tau bahwa Doug-her fiancee (Justin Bartha) gak akan sempet balik ke acara wedding mereka.





Nah, trus flashback deh ke few days before, start dari adegan Doug lg fitting baju bareng calon kakak ipar nya Alan (Zach Galifianakis) yang super dodol. Di situ Doug ajak Alan untuk pergi ke bachelor party nya dia di Vegas bareng sama 2 sahabat karibnya : Stu(Ed Helms) n Phil.





Pas mereka otw ke Vegas , kelihatanlah karakter mereka masing-masing...Stu tuh kaku banget - follow the rule, Alan tuh super dodol - sloppy n makes 'stupid' statement, Phil yang pengen banget get away n have fun, n groom-to-be: Doug yang bisa have fun tapi lebih 'mind things'





Nah, mereka sampai ke Caesar Palace buat nginep..si Alan dengan pintarnya tanya ma resepsionis 'Caesar doesn't really live here right?' huahahaa...gondok bgt dah si resepsionisnya..


They start the bachelor party dengan naik ke atap hotel dengan view lampu kota Las Vegas, mereka bersulang ... Nah, kejadian selanjutnya mereka udah bangun esoknya dengan keadaan kamar yang super berantakan, furnitur hotel rusak, Stu kehilangan 1 giginya, ada harimau di toilet, ada bayi di lemari n Doug is missing..Yang paling parah adalah : mereka gak inget satu hal pun tentang hal yang terjadi malam sebelumnya....





Setelah itu mulailah perjalanan mereka mencari Doug.





Yang gw gak suka dari film ini cuma Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) yang super annoying...cina totok tapi gayanya sok gangster, ilfil banget dah.





Perjalanan ini mengubah hidup mereka, especially Stu yang bisa pecahin masalah relationshipnya, gimana Alan ngebuktiin idenya yang dianggap tolol ma mereka akhirnya bisa bantu mereka keluar dari masalah, Phil yang menyadari arti family nya...





Menurut gw film ini bagus. Kocak tapi gak jorok (at least gak di-expose banget adegannya, cuma ditampilin dalam bentuk foto2 di akhir film). Celetukan dan tingkah laku Alan yang bikin film datar ini ada warnanya...Buat orang-orang yang suka American Pie mungkin gak akan suka film ini soalnya beda tipe.





Selamat nonton! ^^